“Oh no,” Lauren whispers to me. “This isn’t going to end well.”
“One hundred people!” Hart shouts.
“Go, go, go,” Lauren shouts, as she urges me toward the stairs.
“They’ll mainly be outside,” is the last thing I hear Koa say before I race after Lauren to Hart’s room.
She falls onto his bed in a fit of giggles. “Poor Koa,” she says in between her laughter.
“He’s a big boy. He can handle himself. You’re going to have to keep Hart calm. Work your magic on him.” I close the door and then go over to my bag stuffed full of everything I need to get ready for tonight.
“He’ll be fine. He’s not a fan of crowds as you know. If it becomes too much for him, he’ll come up here.”
“I’ll try to keep most of the guests outside if I can.” I lay my dress out over Hart’s bed. Then pull my makeup and hair stuff out of my bag and take a seat in the chair at Hart’s desk.
“He’s going to flip when he sees you in this dress.” She runs a hand over the silky floral fabric.
“He probably won’t care.”
“Whichheare you talking about?” she asks.
“Which one are you?” I counter.
“So there is more than one guy you want to see you wearing this dress. Not that I needed you to admit it considering I saw it with my own eyes. I figured something was going on when Joe and Koa both showed up the other morning.”
“There really isn’t anything going on with either of them,” I admit. “Joe and I went out to lunch the other day and there was nothing there. It felt like I was having lunch with my brother.” I turn sideways in the chair. “He leaned in for a kiss and I gave him my cheek.”
Lauren cringes. “Oh no. I’m sorry. Does this mean you’re done talking to him online too?”
“I’m fairly confident they’re not the same guy. ”
“How do you know for sure?”
“I don’t. I’m going to ask him tonight. The questions Online Joe asks and the way he responds to my questions are different than Campus Joe. It feels like I’ve known him for years. Not weeks. I look forward to talking to him every night. I don't get that giddy feeling about Campus Joe.”
Lauren pulls her dress out of Hart’s closet and starts to change clothes. She’s also wearing a floral dress like mine except where my dress has cutouts on the sides and ties in the front, hers is backless and ties around her neck.
Both dresses show off enough cleavage and skin making them rank somewhere between sexy and indecent. It’s not usually how I like to dress but I would be lying if I wasn’t trying to get a reaction out of Koa.
In chemistry, there are several types of chemical reactions. Typically our interactions result in decomposition. Me breaking down. Tonight I’m hoping for something more along the lines of combustion.
I want to see him burn.
“What happens next? Are you going to ask this mystery guy who he really is or stop talking to him because he isn’t Joe Clark like you thought he was?” she asks, giving me her back so I can tie the tiny strings holding the top of her dress in place.
“I’m going to keep talking to him. I like him. Don’t laugh, but I think I’m falling for him.” I pull the left side of my hair back and secure a comb clip in it. I found a plain one and glued on a few flowers that matched my dress. I thought it would be a nice touch and keep some of my curls back so I can show off my earrings.
“You act like people don’t fall in love online all the time these days. Would it be nice to have some sort of confirmation that you aren’t being taken advantage of and this person isn’t lying? Absolutely. But if your heart is telling you something is there, I think you need to go with it. You’ve always had good intuition.”
“Not always,” I grumble. If I did, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Koa. I stand and start taking off my clothes while Lauren takes my place at Hart’s desk.
“I’m going to confirm that Joe is one hundred percent not the Joe online.” I step into my dress and adjust the straps on my shoulders. “Then I’m going to figure out who this other Joe really is and where he lives in Alabama,” I say, tying the front of my dress. I do a little test shake to make sure my boobs are secure.
“I might know someone who could trace their account and find out their IP address. We would know exactly where they are located and who’s hiding behind a computer screen.”
“Do I want to know who this hacker is?”
“Probably not.” She smirks. “Have you messaged him at all today?”
